belong
by Summermylife21
Summary: in which Jenny returns after the Chuck & Blair wedding, and Manhattan slowly starts to feel like home in a way it never has. N/J


It took her awhile to make friends in Hudson. Even longer in London. But inevitably, she did, and inevitably, they asked her the one question she wanted to answer the least. _Will you ever go back?_ Truth be told, she had no clue, but a simple "I don't know." wouldn't suffice, it would just open up more opportunities for them to ask the hard-hitting questions. So, eventually she came up with an answer.

A _good_ one.

She explained to them that New York was like a first love. Someone you'll always go back to, always have a soft spot for, because you're tied to it. So, she was sure that eventually she'd find her way back, even for a day, or a week, or year, or maybe the rest of her life, but she'd spent all of her years at Constance thinking about the future and what _could_ be. And look where that got her. For once in her life, she was happy to just live in the moment, and not have to look over her shoulder for a fuming Blair Waldorf, or worry about his brother's love life, or watch as Nate moves from girl to girl, destroying her without even knowing it.

So, she made a life for herself. Got a job at a local cafe, went to school full-time, and even fell in love. She cut off all communication with the UES, only texting her dad and brother occasionally so they'd know she's alive. Her only tie to the old Jenny Humphrey came in the form of a tall, brooding figure that went by the name of Charles Bass.

When he'd shown up on her mother's doorstep only weeks after her final visit to Manhattan, she was surprised to say the least. Alison had been out for the day, so she invited him in, and after explaining that he felt bad about what happened between them, and about Blair banishing her, they'd chatted over cranberry juice like old friends. From that point on, he'd visit her frequently, especially around the holidays so that she'd have a friend and he'd be able to get away from the UES craze. They'd become the adoptive step-siblings they were always supposed to be, Chuck keeping her informed on the latest scandal while she raved about her new life and friends. He was the first one to know about her move to London, and the only one to know her exact location. When he'd visit, he'd tell those back home that he was going on a business trip, not Rufus, Dan or even Blair knew what he was actually doing (although, he did tell Blair once they got back together for good).

Chuck had been good to her. She finally had a best friend that she wasn't _in love_ with, and who wasn't going to screw her over. Someone she could talk to about anything, with no judgement. She'd had that with Eric, but once they became step-siblings, she felt like they were only ever around each other because they had to be. Therefore, Chuck was reason number one.

Reason number two didn't come around until a few months before the Chuck & Blair wedding. When Blair was informed of Chuck's secret vist's, Chuck arranged that they skype to "leave the past in its grave". It lasted a lot longer than expected because after the tears and apologies, they got to talking and by the end of the skype session, Jenny was offered a job at Waldorf designs.

Reason number three presented itself with the issue of the Spectator. Their secret was out, Gossip Girl was dead, and she figured that now, there was no one to hold her to who she used to be, and even if they tried, Dan's done way worse by now. Only days after the alert had popped up on her phone, she packed a bag and boarded a flight, telling only one - well, one and his wife - that she was coming. Better to be a surprise than give everyone the chance to run.

Chuck and Blair met her at the airport with their car already waiting, and as she moved through a sea of people, and their eyes met, she'd never felt more like herself. Surprisingly, but not to her dismay, she's pulled into a bone crushing hug by the one and only Queen B, who's sporting a gold band on her fourth finger and a wide-eyed smile. Immediately after, she gets spun around in Chuck's arms before he grabs her bags and the three walk towards the black limousine, parked right in front of the sliding doors.

The drive to Blair's penthouse, which will soon be no longer, was filled with laughter and reassurances from the couple that everyone will be delighted at her return. She finds it hard to believe, but she figures she can handle it with these two by her side. She settles into the guest room just fine, and by dinnertime she's exhausted and declares that she'll announce her return the next day, stating she doesn't "have the energy to deal with everyone".

When she wakes the next morning, breakfast is already on the table, and Blair is making phone calls to the company, most likely talking about Jenny's new position. She eats as slowly as possible, but Blair sees right through her and before she can protest, she's being ushered out the door, and towards the old Humphrey loft. Dan opens the door, and he stands there, quiet and emotionless until Blair actually has to scream at him to let them in. She's pulled into a hug yet again (this won't be the last she suspects), and soon enough, the two are sitting on the couch, Rufus on his way to meet them.

The reunion is pretty short-lived, mostly because Blair gets an SOS text from Serena, who said something about a "fashion emergency", so Blair grabs Jenny and leads her to the van der Woodsen penthouse. Serena seriously is having a fashion emergency, but as soon as her eyes land on Jenny, all is forgotten and hours later, over coffee and cake, all is forgiven too. She never realized how easy it is to talk to Serena. You just get lost in her concerned and fascinated looks, that you find yourself saying things to her that you've never said out loud before.

There is one question that takes her by surprise, though. Serena asks her if she's spoken to Nate already, and when she says no, Serena's confused as all hell.

"Really?" She almost gasps. "I would've thought he'd have raced over there."

When Jenny explained that he doesn't know she's there, and probably didn't want to see her anyway, Serena's next statement stops her heart.

"Yeah, he was angry with you, but he was mostly angry because you didn't say goodbye. He's missed you, all this time."

When Jenny exits the penthouse and hails a cab, she decides that Nate Archibald should be the next stop on the apology train, but as the taxi comes to a stop in front of his new Manhattan apartment, she finds it hard to breathe. To her luck, he's out, so she hails another cab and heads back to Blair's penthouse, spending the rest of the day apartment hunting. For her, and the happy couple. She doesn't see Nate until a few days later, when she almost literally bumps into him leaving his favourite coffee shop that she forgot existed.

He all but screams her name, and the expression on his face tells her that no one told him she was back, although she thinks she'd rather have it this way anyways. His smile is wider than ever and he laughs loudly when they embrace. He asks what she's doing here, how long she's staying, and when she answers him with "forever", his heart grows three sizes. He calls off all his meetings and they revisit that same diner she took him to on his birthday all those years ago, and they chat for hours, taking the longest trip down memory lane as well as catching each other up on their new lives.

He can tell she's changed, but from what he can tell so far, it's a good one, and all he finds himself wanting to do is get to know the new and improved Jenny Humphrey. After all, he's changed too. They make plans to hang out again within the next few days and then bid adieu, Jenny meeting Serena for a girls' night in while Nate heads straight to Bass Industries. He struts in, meeting Chuck who's sitting on his desk looking through some papers, and he looks up, smiling at the sight of him.

"Uh-oh. That's your Jenny face."

"What? You didn't think to tell me she was in town?" Nate's clearly confused, but it's impossible for him to be angry right after seeing Jenny.

"It was per her request, Nathaniel. She wanted to apologize to everyone on her own time. I take it, you two had a chat."

The two best friends discuss the matters of her return as she does the same with Serena at The Empire. It doesn't take long for Jenny to become close with Serena. After all, she's finally back together with Dan, so it's only right she gets to know her sister-in-law. It's only a few weeks later that she finds her own apartment, one that's just so _her_ she always wants to have people over.

So, she cooks Nate dinner every couple weeks, and Blair brings her coffee in the morning before looking over the workload for that day, and Chuck comes over to drink every few Fridays while the girls nights with Serena are moved from the penthouse to her place. It becomes her sanctuary, her safe place. When she's not at work, that is because she fits in perfectly at Waldorf Designs, and she has more inspiration than ever. The new line comes out that next fall, the day the first leaf falls. There's a huge party, and everyone's there, even Eric comes into town. She dances the night away with him and Blair, and then sleeps over at the new Bass residence instead of making the trip all the way back to her place. The next day marks the beginning of the next chapter of her life, and from that morning forward, there's not a day she's not working and it feels like everything that's happened to her is finally worth it.

Eric starts visiting Manhattan more, even bringing a boyfriend once and Blair quickly becomes her best friend when he's not there. She finds it kind of ironic, since she'd always wanted to _be_ Blair, and now they see each other as equals. Dan and Serena get engaged a few months later and Jenny ends up crying more than Serena, and her close friends from London end up surprising her for her birthday - courtesy of the UES gang.

When that next summer rolls around, Blair convinces her to take at least a two week break, so she goes to London and visits her friends, and when she returns to the Upper East Side, the weird British phrases she uses is the talk of the town. Well, that and the fashion over there that helps her with creating the next line. Those two weeks are the longest she's been away from the Non-Judging Breakfast Club since she left for Hudson in the first place. Just like the first time, she gets all her information from Chuck, who tells her that Dan's _finally_ writing again, while Serena has gone off to Thailand to help the poor. Nate hooked up with Bree Buckley _again_ and they had a messy break up _again_ , while Blair has been living it up at work, hiring new seamstresses, and Chuck's company is growing bigger by the minute.

When she returns, she dives straight back into work, and accidentally closes everyone around her out. It took her cancelling on Nate five time consecutively for him to finally say something, and for her to make some time for her friends - no, _family_. She feels bad, so they hang out almost everyday that week - but she's not complaining and neither is he. Without even realizing it, they're closer than ever. Best friends, even - unbeknownst to Chuck and Eric, of course. It's easy with him, and their both different. For once, she feels like maybe, just _maybe_ , they'll work this time, even if it's just as friends.

The biggest difference in their new-old friendship, is that he treats her as an equal now, not the fifteen year old he couldn't date because of a two year age difference, or an overprotective older brother, or because they were living under the same roof. Neither of them are in a romantic relationship, so they don't feel like they're constantly holding themselves back from getting closer or frantically explaining why they both fell asleep side-by-side in Nate's bed. He doesn't see her as a child, and he'd gladly go out drinking with her if he was given the opportunity, although she doesn't drink, and he isn't overbearing and lets her be her own person now. They even talk about the mature stuff, the things that he naturally shielded her from all those years ago. That's not to say they're mature together - oh, no. Wii tennis matches have never been more fun.

Months go by and soon enough, it's Christmas time, and Jenny has agreed to host along with Serena at the van der Woodsen apartment. Dan's in charge of cooking, Blair is in charge of decorations while Chuck, of course, is tending to her every need. Jenny recruits Nate to help with the grocery shopping and the logistics, and Serena fails to not stress herself out with the guestlist and party games. The preparation starts weeks before, but they somehow end up being short on alcohol, Monopoly has missing pieces and Carter Baizen shows up, but then again, it wouldn't be a holiday in the Upper East Side without a whole heap of drama and problems.

It's about midnight on Christmas Eve - technically, Christmas morning - when she decides that this is the best Christmas yet. Not just because of the incredible gifts, although they play a huge role. Dan and Serena combine gifts and get her an engraved silver necklace with her birthstone on it that says "J for Waldorf" and on the back says "Family - D & S", Blair gives her a huge promotion, Chuck says his presence is enough, and Nate - oh, god.

They're standing in the elevator of her apartment, on their way up to her home and she can't wipe the smile off her face. She begged him the whole taxi ride to give her a hint as to what he got her, but he just smirked, his eyes shimmering as the street lights shine into the window. When she swings the door open to her loft, she all but throws herself into his arms. Across the room, hanging on the plain white wall, is a large photograph of her, one that he took a few months ago, but it's been edited. Behind her silhouette, is a collage of words describing her. Strong. Passionate. Ambitious. Courageous. Incredible.

When she lets go of him, he takes her hand and leads her over to the picture, pointing to the bottom right corner, where she sees a small message written in Nate's handwriting.

 _Never been prouder of anyone in my life. You can do all things, Jenny Humphrey._

 _Love, N._

She's barely able to stop herself from tearing up, so instead she just pulls him into a tight hug that feels like it lasts forever. When they part, they're wearing matching grins, and he pushes a strand of hair behind her ear, it's like something out of a romance novel.

"Like it?" He asks tentatively, his smile never fading.

"I love it, Nate. You have no idea." She takes one last look at it as he speaks again.

"Well, it's not over yet." He pulls his phone out of his back pocket and turns on her favourite song, extending his hand towards her, telling her to dance with him. And so, she does. They dance and dance and eventually the song ends but they're still dancing, just to no music. When they pull away to look at each other, they have their first kiss in five years. It's just as meaningful and passionate, but also incredibly different, more mature and certain. Their relationship starts two days later, when Nate surprises her at work for a lunch date, and Blair announces she's pregnant as they ring in the New Year together. They fall in love (in Jenny's case - _again_ ) quickly, and spend most of their free time together, that is when they're not helping Blair with baby plans or calming Chuck's nerves or helping Dan figure out a way to propose to Serena. They spend so much time together, that it's not long before Nate just ends up moving into Jenny's apartment, since he's never _not_ there anymore.

When Dan finally decides to propose, they're having a family night at Chuck and Blair's, and the baby's due any day now. It was Nate's turn to pick the game, so they bring Monopoly and everyone's sitting around the kitchen table laughing away. Dan gets up suddenly, asking Serena to stand, and as soon as his knee hits the floor, a scream is heard. Not from Serena, but from Blair. Before he can pop the question, it seems that a certain little boy swimming around her belly has decided to have the worst timing ever. Dorota's probably the most freaked out, running around the penthouse screaming and calling everyone she can.

Blair has a thirteen hour labour, and everyone sits in the waiting room until the early hours of the morning. Eleanor, Lily and Cyrus fly in as soon as possible since both of them had expected it to be another few weeks before the baby came, and even Rufus stops by, bringing everyone food and offering his help with anything. They all get to meet Henry Harold Bass that morning, and Serena and Nate are the only two that don't leave a few hours later, but everyone else visits frequently.

Dan doesn't propose again, but he doesn't need to because everyone assumes that Serena's said yes, and of course she has. When Henry's a few weeks old, Georgie and Jack come back into town from Australia, and a few days after they arrive, they announce that they plan on staying. Jenny takes a liking to Georgina, they both have that spunk and fire that makes them fun to be around and badass, yet they've both grown into well-rounded people. She finds a new best friend in her, and it helps that Jack is always spending time with his great-nephew, because G has lots of free time. Jenny and Nate are named godparents not long after, and soon, the preparations for the van der Woodsen/Humphrey wedding are put in place. Blair and Jenny have the most important jobs of all.

She spends every minute of her time designing Serena's dress, and even makes Nate a tux. Everyone's counting down the days at this point, and Henry's old enough to talk now, so he's in preschool and no one has to worry about keeping an eye on him during work hours. Blair's running herself ragged trying to get everything sorted, and there ends up being a problem with the material for Serena's dress that makes Jenny want to rip all of her hair out. She finishes only two days before the wedding, and the next day is the first time she's relaxed in months.

When they're in bed that night, she's almost asleep when she feels a hand placed on the side of her head stroking her hair, and a soft voice whispering her name. She nods, wishing she could just go straight to sleep when he stuns her with only two words.

"Marry me."

It's quiet, private and simply _them_. She says yes, because it's _them_ , and when she kisses him, she feels more at peace than ever before. They get up super early the next morning in preparation for the big day, and of course, end up being late due to more than a few kisses. Blair already has a coffee waiting for her at the Bass household, and apparently Serena opted for tequila. While she waits for the stylists and makeup artists to do their job, she helps Blair out with the decorating and Chuck with the errands, sneaking in a little playtime with Henry here and there. Nate calls her not long before vows are supposed to be exchanged, saying something about an emergency meeting, but that he'd be back in time. Blair steals the phone from her, threatening him to get back here, before she's able to tell him she loves him.

He does make in time, just like he said he would, and he walks in just before she does from picking Eric up from the airport. The house is hectic, everyone running around and making sure everything goes perfectly. She's sitting on the arm of the couch chair Nate's planted himself in when Serena descends the steps and a light kiss is placed on her shoulder as the vows are said, and looking around this room, filled with the people she _loves_ ,

She finally,

 _finally_

belongs.


End file.
